Given name & surname · also Late Latin
Percy
Percy is a form of Percival. One French interpretation is “one who can pierce the vale; in Arthurian legend, the only one who could retrieve the Holy Grail.”
Original LatinPersius
Meaning & origin
What it means
Percy is a form of Percival. One French interpretation is “one who can pierce the vale; in Arthurian legend, the only one who could retrieve the Holy Grail.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Late Latin, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
Percy may be used as a form of Percival. This connection is uncertain.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Percy is a form of Percival. The history of Percival gives this family its wider story. Percival’s literary history includes the stories of King Arthur and his knights.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Percy through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 32,840
- 32,204 boys · 636 girls
- Most popular year
- 1921
- 618 babies
- 2025
- 164
- #1,279 for boys · #9,941 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +108%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 154 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,279 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 109.4% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 603 in 1921. It also appeared in 10 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (14). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 10,913 as a first name in 2020; 4,062 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Percy’s family of names
In English usage, Percy is a short form of Percival. In English usage, Percy developed from the Latin form Persius. Percy has a related form in Percea.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 14
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Percivalfull form · English
- Perseyvariant
- Percievariant
- Perceyvariant
- Percyelikely variant
- Perseavariant
- Perseevariant
- Persievariant
Show 6 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Percy
- Percy Bysshe ShelleyBritish Romantic poet (1792–1822)
- Percy Williams BridgmanAmerican physicist1882–1961
- Percy SledgeAmerican singer (1941–2015)1940–2015
- Percy FawcettBritish explorer, anthropologist and archaeologist (1867–1925)
- Percy GraingerAustralian-born composer, arranger and pianist (1882–1961)
- Percy SpencerAmerican engineer and inventor (1894–1970)
- Wyndham LewisEnglish painter, writer and critic (1882–1957)
- Percy Hynes WhiteCanadian actorborn 2001
- Master PAmerican rapper, actor and record executiveborn 1970
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Percy, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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